As an amateur makeup artist with 13 years of experience in giving makeovers, I consider myself a makeover minimalist. When I give makeovers my goal isn’t to highlight the makeup and hide the person, but to accentuate a person’s features and cover flaws, while giving minimal attention to the actual makeup. If I had perfect skin I’d probably just curl my lashes and put on some blush and lip gloss.

This comes from having two brothers who have always had the opinion that makeup shouldn’t really be all that noticeable. Men like to see the person, not the makeup. Or, as one brother  says, “If she looks amazing with all that makeup and it’s pretty obvious that she’s wearing it, you start to wonder what she’s hiding. You have this fear… what does she look like without all of that?” Or to put it in perspective the guy’s thinking long term. If he were married to you, what would you look like first thing in the morning?

So this is why I’m all about keeping things “natural-looking,” and subtle. One way to really stay natural and up your beauty quotient is to give attention to the eyebrows. When all the makeup is gone, you’ll still have beautifully arched eyebrows! So here are the 5 reasons to invest in good eyebrow shaping:

1. As mentioned, plucking your eyebrows is a lasting change that doesn’t go away when you wash your face and take off all the makeup. It’s a part of the face that seems insignificant, but makes a huge difference in your appearance. And the great thing is that it’s something that can be changed so easily and the cost is minimal.

2. Let me ask you, what about a person’s face distinguishes them from others? Is it a person’s nose? Their mouth? Their smile? Nope. For the most part, the distinguishing feature that differentiates people from one another is their eyes! You know those random, anonymous pictures of people in public with a black bar across their eyes featuring fashion don’t s? Check it out:

This proves my point. There’s a reason why the black bar is covering their eyes and not their mouth or nose. Your eyes are the most identifying facial feature that makes you look like you. Now think about it, your eyebrows frame your eyes. That’s why they’re so important.

3. If you’re still thinking, Ahhh, nobody pays attention to eyebrows! Who cares! Well those tiny little hairy caterpillars may seem insignificant, and yes, they are if they blend with your facial features. Eyebrows that match a person’s facial features do look insignificant. They definitely play a “supporting” role in your face’s appearance. The problem is when they look like they play the “lead.” Nobody should be known for their eyebrows. Check out Frida Kahlo:

Her eyebrows are her trademark because they took center stage. All of the paintings made of her exaggerate the unibrow:

Make sure your eyebrows play a “supporting” role! Too thick eyebrows may take centerstage and grab people’s attention but the opposite is also true. You don’t want emaciated eyebrows. Those also have the tendency to take center stage. Check it out:

Maybe these aren’t as bad as the uni brow but still, believe me, people don’t want to see a penciled in eyebrow. Natural is better. When I see Pamela Anderson, I think  Whoa! Those aren’t real! And yes, I’m still talking about eyebrows! Remember, when you wash off the makeup, you want your eyebrows to still be there. Please don’t shave them off and resign to just  creating your own makeshift pencil eyebrow! 9 times out of 10, they won’t be even, and what happens when you sweat or you accidentally rub them off?

4. As a proponent of minimalist makeovers, I give the most attention to eyebrows because when shaped properly, they bring out eyes, thus brightening up the face! There isn’t just one perfect shape for each face. I know I play around with my shape all the time. Beauty trends also change. I mean, if we were living in the days of the silent films, then of course, Pamela Anderson’s eyebrows would be fashionable and timely:

Here’s the 1930’s look that Faye Dunaway portrayed in her role in the movie Chinatown:

But right now the trend is more natural but still shapely. I’m guessing to the male species, this isn’t a trend that will change in their eyes. For the most part, they don’t really notice your eyebrows. But you know you’ve got a problem when they do! Here’s a student I gave a makeover to. She wanted a thinner shape than what I prefer. Still, you can do thin eyebrows that don’t take center stage. This is Ashley before:

This is Ashley after:

The above is an example of going from too thick and scaling down to a thinner shape. Below is Beth, who previously went overzealous with the tweezers and needed her eyebrows thickened. Here’s Beth before:

And Beth after:

Even if you already have a pretty nice natural shape to begin with, even a subtle change can make a difference. Check this out:

In the next example, I used tweezers and scissors. It’s also an example of a shape that is natural but fitting to the person’s face. You’ll notice how the change of the eyebrow shape softened her facial features. Here are Esther’s before and after pictures:

5. Shaping your eyebrows is a small change that makes a huge difference! And lastly…eyebrows show emotion. If done incorrectly, you could look mad all the time. Or sad all the time! Or surprised all the time! Who wants that?

If you’re in the San Antonio area and would like your eyebrows shaped, email me and we’ll work something out even if you’re a broke college student.  Everybody deserves to have nicely shaped eyebrows!

Tags: eyebrow, eyebrow before and after, eyebrow makeovers, eyebrow plucking, eyebrow shape, eyebrow shaping, eyebrow tweezing, eyebrows, frida kahlo, importance of eyebrows, penciled eyebrows, plucking, too thick eyebrows, too thin eyebrows, tweezing, uni brow

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 9:04 pm and is filed under who loves beauty secrets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.